Report a pothole or damage to the road surface

How to report a pothole or damage to roads

You can use the form below to report potholes or damage to roads on any road we're responsible for.

We're responsible for repairing potholes on public roads. We're not responsible for repairs on private roads. Maintenance of private roads is usually the responsibility of the people who live on the road.

Please try to give us as much information as you can so we can identify the problem quickly. This includes the road or street name and a reference point, such as outside a house number.

What happens next?

We aim to:

Inspect the road you've reported to us within 10 working days.

Decide how quickly we need to repair the pothole depending on the risk it poses to road users after we've inspected the road. It's difficult to judge the risk of the damages. The factors we take into account include:

Size and depth of the pothole.

Type, speed and volume of traffic on the road.

Road alignment and visibility.

Position of the damage in relation to road width.

Repair potholes within 20 working days of when you reported them.

Let you know if we decide not to carry out repairs with the reasons why.

How do we keep the roads safe?

We regularly inspect our roads and footways according to national guidance.

These safety inspections are designed to identify all defects likely to cause danger or inconvenience to the user of the road or wider community. Potholes we identify through safety inspections are repaired within a timescale based on the risk to the public, normally 20 working days.

We prioritise other areas that are showing signs of deterioration for more substantive repairs in forward work programmes.

Are we responsible for repairing all defects in the road surface?

Utility companies such as the gas and water suppliers are allowed to use the road to install services to our homes. Sometimes things like stop tap boxes or manhole covers become broken and need to be repaired. These are the responsibility of the utility companies. We do make the utility company aware of any defect and mark them with paint as well. Utility companies may sometimes use different coloured paints to mark out their own repairs in the highway.